One of the earliest forms of shelter known to humankind is the tent. Huge variety in tent design exists, but common elements include tent fabric and tent poles which shape and support the fabric. Another common element in most tent designs is a mechanism for attaching the tent to the surface upon which it is assembled. If this surface is the ground, which will henceforth be assumed, that ground may consist of dirt, clay, sand or gravel, or even rock. In fact, a single tent may, at different times, be assembled upon all of these surfaces. Unfortunately, securing a tent upon such a variety of surfaces is not always easy.
Various solutions to this problem have been attempted, probably the earliest being to merely drive a portion of each tent pole into the ground. Unfortunately, this solution requires that the ground at the precise locations where the tent poles enter be receptive to penetration. Two very obvious situations commonly occur which can make such pole location and penetration unsuitable. First, the ground can be too soft (e.g., sand or mud), and thus not suitably retain the tent pole in the desired position, at least not unless a long portion of it is inserted. Or, second, the ground can be too hard (e.g., rock), and not permit any of the pole to be inserted. A common attempt to solve this has been to change (e.g., widen or narrow) the stance of the tent poles where they encounter the ground, attempting to pick optimal entry points. Unfortunately, this may not always work with the particular shape and dimensions of a particular tent, being usually constrained by the dimensions and structure of the fabric used for the tent walls.
Another solution to attaching tents to a surface such as the ground has been to drive stakes ("tent stakes") into the ground, and to then tie off or otherwise attach the tent poles and tent fabric to these stakes with varying lengths of rope like materials, often called "stays" if generally rounded or "webbing" if strap shaped. Stakes do not have to be driven into the ground at the precise positions where they provide support for tent poles. Further, stakes may perform other duties as well. For example, they may concurrently function as tie-off points for tent poles, tent wall corners, and rain flies or canopies.
Unfortunately, simply using stakes and rope materials alone also has not proven a perfect solution. Securing tent poles in this manner can be difficult, sometimes requiring multiple stakes for a single pole. Further, the entire concept of tying, and the suitable rope materials used, often introduce knotting problems (e.g., knots that hold well enough, as well as ones that can be untied later). This snarling and tangling, particularly during disassembly, storage, and transport of tents remains a problem.
Perhaps the most common solution to the above problems is the addition of special tent pole terminators at the lower end of each tent pole. In the industry such terminators have come to be called tent base brackets. Tent base brackets may be made part of tent poles, and thereby limit pole penetration into the ground, similar to the operation of ski poles. Or, more frequently, tent base brackets may be separate pieces assembled onto tent poles during tent erection. Whichever the case, tent base brackets often are shaped to facilitate tying them to tent stakes or else driving tent stakes through them, to pin the base bracket and all attached to it to the ground. However, unfortunately, even current tent base brackets are not perfect. When made integral to the tent poles they make packing and storage of the tent poles awkward. When separate, they are easily lost. Further if built to be robust, the added weight may be appreciable, yet, if built to be light, the brackets may be weak and wear or break easily.
What is needed for a better tent-ground attachment mechanism is an improved tent base bracket. One which while performing the primary task of a tent base bracket, to support a tent pole and dissipate forces from it into the ground, may also be securely attached to the ground and provide for secure attachment of the tent structural fabric. In filling this role the optimal device should have adequate strength and durability, as well as light weight. Optionally the device should attach permanently to some larger structure of the tent, to minimize the likelihood of loss. Also, optionally, the desired device should permit tensioning adjustment at the location where tent fabric attaches, to permit drawing the tent fabric into proper shape, and to prevent it flapping about in windy conditions. Further, optionally, the desired device should permit attachment and tensioning adjustment, similar to that described above for tent wall fabric, for common tent options such as canopies and rain flies.